Carl Wagner
Senior Partner; Benchmark Destinations; Napa Valley, Calif.
What are three of the greatest new dining experiences you would recommend for groups meeting in Napa and Sonoma counties?
- Located in what could be considered the bon vivant capital of the Napa Valley, Yountville is home to celebrity chef Michael Chiarello’s newly released Bottega. With a bounty of house-made, locally grown ingredients, Bottega ("artist’s workshop") offers one of the most original and unique menus in the Wine Country, with dishes such as tortino rustico Southern Italian ratatouille and wild Alaskan sockeye salmon zucchini spaghettini. Bottega’s wine list, which includes Chiarello’s own Chiarello Family Vineyard selections, received immediate accolades from Wine Spectator. Adorning the 90-person-capacity restaurant are five communal tables (each made with 40-year-old timber) that make for the perfect setting.
- Earlier this year, celebrated chef and proprietor Sondra Bernstein of The Girl & The Fig launched Estate in Sonoma. While the structure itself isn’t brand-new (formerly The General’s Daughter), the cuisine and atmosphere are fresh and inviting. Two large, open-air patios (one with a fantastic fireplace and sofa lounge seating) provide the perfect setting to sip one of Estate’s festive cocktail offerings, including the basil and strawberry mojito. And don’t miss what will always be a happy hour with Estate’s Pizza & Pinot offering each evening, featuring pizza from the wood-fired oven. The Cal-Italian dinner menu has many hearty items on it, including veal ravioli made with saffron pasta, San Marzano tomato sauce and fried basil, and herbed leg of lamb served with wood-roasted summer vegetables.
- Yountville scores again with what some consider the most anticipated new hotel and restaurant opening in the Napa Valley. Bardessono—hotel and restaurant share the same name—is on the cutting edge with its culinary offerings. In addition to wonderful fresh seafood entrees, Bardessono offers plenty of land-lover options, including Devil’s Gulch roasted pork loin with glazed vegetables, and Clucky Plucky chicken, a succulent roasted chicken breast and glazed thigh served with couscous, fava beans and new onions with Moroccan jus. Bardessono’s impressive wine list features vintners who are certified biodynamic as well as organic. Executive Chef Sean O’Toole (formerly with Michal Mina in San Francisco) has created an enticing menu of pure, simple and sustainable foods, many of which are grown on-site in Bardessono’s organic vegetable and herb gardens.